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Wednesday, July 1

Devendra, Thurston Contribute to Book/DVD About Touring

As do members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Le Tigre, Matmos, Explosions in the Sky Devendra, Thurston Contribute to Book/DVD About Touring

It's tough to know what indie rock touring is like unless you've actually roughed it cross-country in the back of a dingy van, hitting up questionable diners at 4 a.m. and sleeping wherever you can. But the new book/DVD set The Art of Touring is here to give laymen a multimedia simulacrum of life on the road.

Published by Yeti (which is run by Pitchfork contributor Mike McGonigal), the 156-page tome was edited by former Erase Errata member Sara Jaffe and former Electrelane guitarist (and Pitchfork contributor) Mia Clarke. It features artwork courtesy of the likes of Devendra Banhart and members of Times New Viking, the Ponys, and Au Revoir Simone, written pieces from Le Tigre's Johanna Fateman and Matmos's Drew Daniel (also a Pitchfork contributor) and more, and photography courtesy of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, and Explosions in the Sky's Munaf Rayani, just to name a few. The DVD is filled with live and backstage footage of the Ex, Mecca Normal, Erase Errata, the Jeffrey Lewis Band, Electrelane, and others.

Even better, a third of the profits from the sales of the book will be donated to the Musicians' Emergency Fund administered by the Jazz Foundation of America.

The Art of Touring is out now. Check out a few pages from it below:

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Video: Rye Rye: "Bang" (Directed by M.I.A.)

M.I.A. makes her video director debut and guests on this Baltimore club bomber from Rye Rye. It's upbeat, lo-fi, and features people in glow-in-the-dark attire breaking down some manic Bmore moves:

Posted by Ryan Dombal on July 1, 2009 at 11:15 a.m.

Tags: M.I.A., Rye Rye, video

 

Passion Pit Remix Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Passion Pit Remix Yeah Yeah Yeahs

In its original form, "Heads Will Roll" is an anthemic synth banger, one of the highlights on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' highlight-jammed It's Blitz! album. (Badass video, too.) So it makes sense that the YYYs would enlist Passion Pit, a band that traffics almost exclusively in anthemic synth bangers, to remix the track for release on a British single. You can stream the result over at the Hype Machine.

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Michael Jackson Breaks Chart Records, Public Viewing Scheduled

Michael Jackson Breaks Chart Records, Public Viewing Scheduled

Since his death last Thursday, Michael Jackson has experienced levels of popularity that he hadn't seen in something like two decades. Anyone could have predicted that Jackson's back catalog would experience a chart bump with his passing, but few could have imagined how completely Jackson would dominate sales this week.

Billboard reports that Jackson's albums take up the top nine positions on its Top Pop Catalog Albums chart, which measures the sales of albums that are more than 18 months old. Eight of Jackson's solo albums appear in the top 10, as does a Jackson 5 compilation. Jackson's Number Ones comp occupies the top spot, selling 108,000 copies.

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Echo Chamber: Ted Leo

Echo Chamber: Ted Leo

"Hey Bruce-- over here-- knowhutI'msayin'? RT @gibsonlifestyle: Bruce Springsteen joins the Gaslight Anthem on stage at Glastonbury 2009."

-- Hard to blame New Jersey's own Ted Leo for being a tad jealous of the Gaslight Anthem's stunning, Boss-assisted Glastonbury performance of "The '59 Sound". (via @tedleo)

Posted by Ryan Dombal on July 1, 2009 at 9:40 a.m.

Tags: Bruce Springsteen, Echo Chamber, Ted Leo, The Gaslight Anthem

 

News in Brief: Treasure Island, the Donnas, A.A. Bondy, Sondre Lerche

News in Brief: Treasure Island, the Donnas, A.A. Bondy, Sondre Lerche

-- Putting a few bands and a few thousand people on a man-made island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay Area feels like a great idea. And for the third year in a row, that's exactly what the Treasure Island Music Festival will do. October 17-18,  the Flaming Lips, MGMT, the Decemberists, Girl Talk, Beirut, MSTRKRFT, and many more will all take part.

-- Cali bad-girl pop-punk snarlers the Donnas have now existed for a brain-melting 16 years, which means it's now time for a career-spanning compilation. The band will self-release Greatest Hits, Vol. 16, their facetiously titled career-spanner, on July 7. This summer, they'll open for Blondie and Pat Benatar on tour.

-- On September 1, Fat Possum will release When the Devil's Loose, the sophomore album from roots-rocker A.A. Bondy. Bondy will tour with Conor Oberst this month. Fun fact: If you have any A.A. Bondy songs on your iPod, he's probably the first person to show up under "artists". Maybe that was the idea.

-- Sondre Lerche, the Norwegian boy wonder singer-songwriter who wrote all the songs for the god-awful movie Dan in Real Life, will follow up that soundtrack with Heartbeat Radio, his new full-length. Rounder will release the album, which features string and horn arrangements from High Llama Sean O'Hagan, on September 8.

Posted by Tom Breihan on July 1, 2009 at 9:35 a.m.

Tags: A.A. Bondy, Album, Festival, Sondre Lerche, The Donnas, Treasure Island

 

Rising: Suckers

Rising: Suckers

Yelpy vocals. Worldly percussion. Triumphant horns. Listening to Suckers' debut EP-- co-produced by Yeasayer's Anand Wilder-- is like listening to a late-00s indie-rock greatest hits sampler. This band may not blow you away with innovation, but there's no expiration date on indelible songs. And Suckers have at least one of those to their name so far: the quaking, crescendoing "It Gets Your Body Movin'", which still sways just right 40+ listens later. And it's also got the best whistle solo of the year, bar none.

With the band currently in the middle of writing their first full-length, we recently called up lead singer Quinn Walker, 28, to get a little background on the New Haven, Connecticut-raised, Brooklyn-based band. The onetime "recluse musician" talked about being homeless, his DIY healthcare philosophy, and his take on New York's current rash of loose and mystical MGMT-type bands:

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Tuesday, June 30

New Release: The Apples in Stereo: #1 Hits Explosion!

New Release: The Apples in Stereo: <i>#1 Hits Explosion!</i>

Artist: The Apples in Stereo
Album: #1 Hits Explosion!
Release Date: September 1
Label: Yep Roc

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Galaxie 500 Reissue Albums on Vinyl

Galaxie 500 Reissue Albums on Vinyl

Before their breakup at the dawn of the 90s, the dream-pop trio Galaxie 500 recorded three studio albums of hazy, shimmery indie rock and inspired a couple of generations of reverb abusers. When they broke up, they spawned a pair of almost-as-great groups, Luna and Damon & Naomi.

And now, for the first time in years, we can experience all three Galaxie 500 albums in their original format. As Stereogum reports, every Galaxie 500 album is once again available on vinyl.

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Echo Chamber: The Roots' ?uestlove

Echo Chamber: The Roots' ?uestlove

"damn. i dont know how to react to this vibe thing being over. i purchased every issue since its inception. i was proud of it actually. it wasn't like rolling stone was going to put wesley snipes or d'angelo on the cover."

-- The Roots' ?uestlove on Vibe magazine, R.I.P. (via @questlove / Twitlonger)

Posted by Tom Breihan on June 30, 2009 at 4:10 p.m.

Tags: ?uestlove, Echo Chamber, The Roots, Vibe

 

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